


And another thing

by apathyinreverie



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Romance, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24955252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apathyinreverie/pseuds/apathyinreverie
Summary: Danny used to be one of the best undercover operatives Newark PD ever had, handling infiltration jobs all along the East Coast and even a couple beyond that. So, maybe he shouldn't be all that surprised that one of those undercover ops would come back to bite him at some point.Though, he definitely hadn’t expected it to happen quite like this.(Or, the undercover-as-a-couple fic I just couldn't resist writing.)
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 66
Kudos: 287





	1. Chapter 1

Steve doesn’t bother hiding the grin on his face as he listens to Danny rant his way through yet another complaint about something or other in his life.

Beside him, Danny is all broad, sweeping gestures and pointed comments and grumpy frowns as they make their way through the lobby of one of Honolulu’s fancier hotels, the two of them just having gotten done interrogating a lead – one of the bellhops here – who has apparently been helping his more well-to-do clientele in getting some of the ‘fun’ drugs to go along with their holiday partying.

And usually, Five-0 wouldn’t bother with some small-time dealers selling to a couple of rich kids. That’s more the HPD’s cup of tea.

If it weren’t for the fact that just this past week alone, several cases of dirty drugs have popped up, all of them restricted to Oahu’s fancier clubs, nine kids from independent tourist groups currently in the hospital, two of them even having slipped into a coma. They don’t know yet whether it’s coincidence that the dirty drugs so far have only made an appearance amongst rich tourists or whether someone might be deliberately cutting their batches of drugs with something ‘additional’. Which potentially makes this less of an ordinary drug case and more of a serial murder attempt.

And with rich kids getting poisoned, that of course meant rich parents getting involved. Which then led to the governor calling Steve, telling him to solve this.

Hence, Five-0 taking over the case and them currently following the supply chain backwards from those kids, first step being the guy who got the drugs for the kids, and now on to the next higher level in the supply chain, whose name Steve just got out of the bellhop.

Which Danny is now complaining about as they make their way out of the hotel where the guy works, due to the methods Steve used to get himself those answers.

As always.

Danny rants about _everything_ , even about things he _likes_. Usually by way of complaining about how everyone on Oahu keeps doing it backwards and what is _wrong_ with people and more often than not whatever he is complaining about somehow also ending up supposedly being Steve’s fault. After almost two years of working together, listening to his partner rant at him has become a simple state-of-being to Steve, something normal, just a part of his life. A part he wouldn’t miss for anything in the world.

Steve might admittedly even rather enjoy poking at Danny, cheerfully and inevitably starting him off on his various rants as often as he can. So what if he maybe likes making Danny lose his temper from time to time – not that that is a particularly hard thing to do – and so what if he maybe finds listening to his partner’s never-ending rants almost a little soothing these days.

As long as Danny is ranting, everything is fine. It’s when Danny goes quiet that Steve knows something is seriously wrong.

 _Silence_ used to be Steve’s solace. But it’s just not anymore. Not since Danny became his partner in all his grumpy, taking-up-more-space-than-his-stature-should-reasonably-enable-him-to, forever-talking glory.

And so what if Steve might even have a bit of a… _thing_ for Danny’s ranting, especially when Steve himself is the focus of said diatribe. So what if he likes the way his partner utterly hones in on him whenever Steve does something Danny disapproves of, the way he entirely ignores everyone and everything around them as he tries to drive his point – whatever that may be at the time – home to Steve and just how truly insane Danny thinks he is.

He likes Danny’s ranting, the challenge of keeping up with him, even likes setting him off more often than not, likes how just a single pointed comment from him can send Danny into lengthy, hour-long diatribes. With Steve at their center. Hey, he never claimed to have outgrown pigtails-pulling as his main method of flirting, and poking at his partner’s so-easily-stoked temper is far too much fun for him to want to stop either.

Danny who takes up so much space, fills every room he steps into with his mere presence. Even those who actively dislike his partner – more often than not due to his abrasive attitude towards anyone who isn’t part of their ohana – still notice him. Always.

Danny has this energy. An energy that makes people take notice as soon as he steps into a room, focuses everyone’s attention on himself, not necessarily in a positive way – more often than not quite the opposite – but even those who try to actively snub him can’t help but still be utterly and constantly aware of his presence.

Steve _likes_ being the focus of Danny’s rants, likes how - during shootouts and car chases and rescue missions, while hunting terrorists and taking down drug cartels, while interrogating perps or defusing bombs - Danny never really looks away from him, forever focused on him, never once actually doubting Steve’s abilities. But still so utterly furious every time he puts himself at risk.

Because Danny worries. Not just about Steve making it out alive out of any given situation, but also about the minor stuff, about him getting injured or even just threatened, worries about Steve getting enough sleep and eating right and every single damn scrape he gets, worries about his state-of-mind, his feelings, and seems to be able to just _tell_ every time one of their cases ends up kicking loose any of his less-than-pleasant memories.

Danny _cares_.

And Steve has never had that. Not once in his life has he had someone truly worry about all that he is the way Danny does. And Steve would do absolutely anything to be able to keep it.

Danny is like his own, personal, forever-grumpy ball of sunshine, makes everything in Steve’s life brighter, warmer, _better_ , makes things bearable on his bad days, makes things bright and joyful on his good days. The very center of his life that Steve is more than happy to circle around.

Yeah, him falling for his partner was kind of inevitable right from the start. Steve has long since come to terms with that fact.

Danny’s immutable, uncompromising way of caring was the very first thing Steve truly noticed about him after they met.

Back when they’d barely known each other and he’d just strong-armed Danny into being his partner and the other man had been abrasive and angry and so clearly less-than-enthused about Steve’s entire approach to, well, _anything_. And Steve had been fine with that, hadn’t honestly expected to be working with Danny beyond that one case, only wanted him there because Steve didn’t know who to trust after having been gone from the islands so long and because Danny had already made headway in tracking down Hesse.

Sure, he’d registered him as a cop in his dad’s garage, had registered his genuine condolences for his loss, had even registered the fact that he wasn’t as useless as Steve had first assumed as soon as he actually looked at Danny’s notes for his dad’s case.

But Steve hadn’t really taken note of him. Not really.

Not until they’d been in the car to follow the lead Danny had dug up, and then Gracie had called.

And Steve still remembers it, remembers the – at the time absolutely baffling – change in Danny, from the surly, abrasive, angry guy he had presented until right that moment to the so obviously loving father, how everything about Danny had brightened, his voice suddenly warm, smile broad, eyes soft and crinkling in the corners, so honestly, obviously _happy_ just because his daughter was on the other end of the line.

It had been such a drastic change between, Steve still remembers how he’d had to make himself glance away, out the window, lest he be caught staring stupidly at the other man.

In hindsight, Steve thinks he might have had a bit of a crush on his partner ever since that very moment. Ever since getting to see Danny so soft, with his guard so easily, uncompromisingly down while speaking to Gracie and damn anyone else who might see it, because nothing in this world is ever going to make Danny give his daughter less than absolutely everything at any given moment.

Steve, fresh off his last op, after years of back-to-back missions and having just lost the father who never came close to showing him the sort of unwavering love Danny has for his daughter, had never really stood a chance. And the more he gets to see of it – of that fierce care and immutable devotion to those Danny calls his, these days even finding it directed _at himself_ – the more possessive it makes Steve in not wanting to share it with anyone _aside_ from Gracie.

And then there had been the day where Danny – everything-by-the-books, don’t-veer-from-procedure, due-process-is-my-life Danny – tied a guy to the hood of his car and absolutely made Steve’s year by throwing all of his procedures and no-you-can’t-torture-the-information-out-of-our-suspect-Steve attitude to the wind, just to be able to better prove his old partner’s innocence.

It’s immutable loyalty and uncompromising protectiveness of those he holds dear and Steve had practically _felt_ himself fall, maybe not quite in love yet back then, but close enough that it hadn’t really made all that much of a difference anymore either.

He has only been falling ever further since.

Thing is just, if Steve had ever gotten even the slightest indication from Danny that he might not be entirely, utterly straight, Steve himself might have been willing to test the waters, to maybe nudge a little at Danny and figure out whether he is in any way inclined towards his own gender. Whether he could be inclined towards Steve.

Alas, no such luck.

He is fairly certain that Danny is one of those guys who are so utterly straight, they don’t even register other guys. The sort who is so settled in their own sexuality, a naked guy could be dancing in front of them and all he’d do is offer the guy a beer. The sort who when actually told about another guy liking them just shrugs, is at most flattered, but mostly just unconcerned.

Steve has come to terms with that. With the fact that Danny can call him babe and throw around I love yous and spend his every waking moment with Steve and never once even _consider_ there might be the potential for more between them. Thoughts that have Steve lying awake at night, thinking of could-bes and if-onlys.

It’s just his luck that he’d not only fall for his partner, but that said partner would then also turn out to also be the absolute straightest guy to ever walk the earth.

But Steve has long since accepted it. He is fine with having Danny in his life in any other way except romantically. He is perfectly fine with knowing that for Danny Steve will always come second, right after Gracie, nothing in between.

Yeah, Steve is more than alright with that.

He makes himself blink back to the present, having tuned out most of Danny’s current rant but coming more alert when they finally leave the fancy hotel lobby behind, stepping out onto the little square in front, tourists everywhere happily intermingling on their way to the beach or lazing about on the benches scattered about. It’s colorful and lively, the weather is perfect, Steve just got to blow off some steam by interrogating a suspect, and now they are on their way to lunch.

Today is turning out to be a rather excellent day in his opinion.

Of course, Danny is nowhere near done with this newest ‘no Steve, immunity and means doesn’t mean we can just ignore the entirety of the Geneva Convention, you maniac’ rant of his. Just because Steve managed to make the bellhop cry, so Danny had to jump in with his ‘I’ll protect you from the big scary SEAL… but only if you tell me everything you know’ routine.

Steve thinks it’s a pretty awesome system they’ve got going and for all of Danny’s rants about Steve’s methods he sure never does anything to interrupt him _while_ he is terrorizing their perps, only complains about it after.

He lets his lips quirk up a little further.

Then again, Danny without complaints wouldn’t be Danny at all.

“Aidan!”

Danny doesn’t pay the voice any attention, too busy trying to beat his current point about proper procedure into the head of his utter maniac of a partner.

Steve who just managed to threaten their lead – some barely-into-his-twenties kid who had just about frozen in place at finding himself faced with Steve’s super-SEAL I-can-kill-you-with-my-mind-alone, thousand-yard stare – into bawling literal streams of tears in terror. Meaning Danny then had to step in and soothe him until the guy could form full sentences again and give them the information they were looking for.

Such is the life of one Danny Williams these days.

“Aidan!” the voice calls again, a little closer now.

Still, Danny pays it no mind. Just one more voice blending into the cacophony of tourists milling about everywhere, calling out for someone or other, trying to get each other’s attention across the square instead of simply walking over like normal people, noisy lot that they are.

Instead he keeps trying to explain in teeny tiny words that making suspects cry is not a viable way of getting them to cooperate.

“But it worked,” Steve just shrugs at him, grin bright and perfectly unconcerned, all lazy relaxation and nonchalant ease. “We got a name, didn’t we. So, why are you complaining?”

“Why am I-?” Danny cuts himself off to emphasize his incredulity at the impressively stupid question. “Why am I _complaining_ , you ask?”

Steve glances over at him, his grin only widening. And, yes, Danny is perfectly aware that his partner is currently pushing his buttons. Doesn’t mean that Danny isn’t still utterly determined to drive the point of proper interrogation methods home to Steve. Surely, one day some of the things Danny keeps telling him will get through that Neanderthal brain of his. _Surely_.

Danny never gets the chance to actually try.

“Aidan!” the voice is much closer now.

And Danny might have still ignored it.

If it weren’t for the hand suddenly reaching for his shoulder from behind, making Steve instantly spin around to face whoever is behind them before he even registers anything happening at all.

And Danny is mirroring him out of sheer reflex, reacting more to Steve’s movement than to the hand reaching for him, so very attuned to his partner these days and more than used to Steve’s freakish reflexes forever giving him a head start, but their movements perfectly synchronized - as they always are whenever adrenaline makes them _move_ – putting them into reaching distance of each other but far enough apart to give both of them full range of movement in case they have to physically defend themselves. It’s instinct these days.

Steve’s expression has already dropped into that perfectly blank murder-face of his. Although with as many civilians as there are milling about here, neither of them has drawn their weapon yet, hands just hovering at their sides for now.

Which turns out to be a good thing. Same for the fact that their badges are still in their pockets instead of clearly visible on their belts as they usually are, having taken them off earlier so as to not tip off anyone else in the drug supply chain in case someone saw them talking to the bellhop.

It's a good thing. A _very_ good thing.

Because Danny suddenly finds himself looking at the smiling face of just about the last person he expected to run into on the streets of Honolulu. And one he could have done entirely without ever seeing again in his life.

“Aidan,” Arturo Ricci greets him brightly, grinning broadly, arms held out to either side like he is offering him an honest-to-god hug.

Arturo ‘Arty’ Ricci. Second son of Carlo Ricci, the current and undisputed don of one of Chicago’s most powerful mafia families.

You know, the mafia family Danny had gone undercover in more than a decade back, lending the CPD a hand when all their undercover agents kept being picked off within hours of being sent in, making it clear that the CPD itself had a leak somewhere and thus needing someone unknown, someone entirely from the outside to fill in, mainly to help root out the rot within their own ranks.

The Ricci family who had never actually figured out that Danny had been a mole at all, having been long gone before the takedowns started, one of the conditions he’d set for helping the CPD at all, seeing as Rachel had been pregnant at the time and Ricci Senior has a reputation of the bloody variety and Danny had refused to risk his family for his job. Not ever.

And here is Arturo Ricci, _in the same city where Gracie lives_ , greeting him like an old friend.

 _Fuck_ , is all Danny can think right that moment.

Beside him, Steve remains predator-still, as always whenever he anticipates a situation to go sideways, his posture loose and but ready to spring into action at any moment, sizing Arty up as a potential threat.

Despite the fact that Arturo Ricci is about the least threatening figure one could imagine, flowy unbuttoned silk shirt, so many accessories you could open a jewelry store just with what he is wearing on his person right now, the makeup and the bright orange tinted glasses he is currently pushing up into his hair, bright grin on his face. Well, the same can’t be said for the two gorillas flanking him, barely two steps back, both of them obviously packing by the way their shirts bulge in suspicious places.

The problem isn’t whether he and Steve would be able to take the three of them – plus whoever else of the people milling about around them is part of Arty’s more covert security detail – down. They’d manage, they always do. No, the problem is that – if Danny has any choice in the matter – he’d really like to keep the Riccis entirely ignorant of his real identity. For all eternity. Lest he start losing limbs in retaliation or start finding dead animals on his doorstep.

So, Danny makes his expression entirely relaxed, grin cheerful, like this is truly as wonderful a surprise as Arty clearly assumes it must be.

“Arty,” Danny makes himself greet back brightly and at least he doesn’t have to pretend surprise. That part is entirely natural.

The knowledge that Steve is right beside him, still ready to spring into action at the slightest provocation, lets Danny make himself consciously relax, assumes the comfortable sort of slouch of someone who has no worries whatsoever in this world, all relaxed ease and lazy delight despite the very-much-not-welcome situation he has so suddenly found himself in.

Arty’s face brightens even further at being recognized. And, yeah, Danny definitely remembers him from back then, only a couple years younger than him, barely into his twenties when they met, all broad-shouldered bravado and nervously twitchy hands and so much need to prove himself.

And also, a mean motherfucker, rivaling his father in his sheer vindictive ruthlessness whenever crossed.

Danny calmly reaches out to lay a hand against Steve’s forearm, a gesture that likely looks soothing to any onlookers but that Danny knows Steve will easily be able to interpret as the fuck-my-life-but-let’s-please-play-along-with-this-newest-bit-of-insanity it actually is. There is barely a second of delay before Steve pretends to visibly settle down, pretends to let the tension bleed out of his shoulders, still alert but no longer looming threateningly. Like a bodyguard might react to their boss telling them to back down.

He has never met anyone who can go with the flow like Steve can.

“Man, it’s been so long,” Arty is grinning, again reaching out and this time pulling Danny into a hug that he could have honestly done without but that he of course still returns, makes himself relax into it as much as he can.

“Too true,” he returns as he pulls away, back to Steve’s side, back into his partner’s reach, even as he keeps his own smile broad and genuine. “What’s it been? Ten years or something? I definitely didn’t expect to run into you _here_ of all places.”

“Me neither, man,” Arty grins back all bright enthusiasm at meeting an old friend. He certainly hasn’t lost his particular brand of flair since Danny has seen him last. “What brings you to the beautiful island of Hawaii?” he asks, smile still broad but his eyes as sharp as ever as he watches Danny.

Danny racks his brain, tries to come up with the best way to explain his presence here while neither breaking his old cover – the details of which he can’t actually remember – nor giving away that he is in fact a cop, that he lives here, and that he has a daughter here who someone like Carlo Ricci might just decide to use to get his revenge for Danny infiltrating his organization a couple of years back.

“Vacation,” is what he finally comes out with, makes himself give a smooth shrug, even as he tries to remember the details of his cover story from back then. “I mean, it’s _Hawaii_. Why else would anyone come here?”

Beside him, Steve remains utterly silent, but Danny is sure he is going to pay for that slight against Oahu later on.

For now, he is too busy trying to recall his cover story from back then, but still can only remember parts of it. Like the fact that he had claimed to be working for some European mafia branch at the time, only visiting the US to make some oversea contacts.

Oh, and the teeny tiny detail that his ‘in’ with the Riccis, or rather with Arty specifically, had been that Danny had pretended to be gay as part of his cover story.

It was the entire reason why he was so easily let into the Ricci family’s inner circle, because Arty is gay – rather flamboyantly so – and thus Danny had decided early on into building his cover to simply take the easy in of pretending to be not-quite-heterosexual as well, a thing simply not done in the epitome of the macho world that is organized crime.

Don’t get him wrong, there was nothing ever going on between him and Arty – Danny is no honey trap, thank you very much – but Arty had certainly lapped up the idea of another openly gay mafioso being perfectly successful in their world and taking absolutely no shit about it from anyone. The role had suited Danny just fine.

“Oh, me too,” Arty returns brightly. A pause. “Well, _mostly_ vacation,” he then amends, leaning into Danny’s space as though imparting some sort of secret. “But you know how it is,” he whispers not-so-stealthily.

“Yeah,” Danny confirms with an easy laugh, lets none of his nerves show or how very-much-not-comfortable he is right now, finally feels himself settle into the pretend-to-be mindset of undercover work as he grins conspiratorially. “Preaching to the choir here.”

Well, he _does_ actually know a fair bit about the sort of ‘vacations’ mainland mobsters get up to in Hawaii, though he most certainly didn’t get that knowledge the way Arty is clearly assuming. And, by god, he hopes Steve never finds out that Danny has started to think of the rest of the US as ‘the mainland’, if only to avoid the inevitable teasing about settling in on the island.

Steve who is also still standing beside him, still silent, eyes intent, body angled in a way that he’d be able to flip around Arty in an instant and take on the two gorillas behind him instead, probably having picked up on enough from their conversation by now to have a general idea of what exactly is going on, and definitely aware that this isn’t nearly as happy a reunion for Danny as it seemingly is for Arty.

Who has clearly spotted Steve as well now, going by the rather appreciative onceover he is giving Danny’s partner right now.

“And this is…” Arty promptly purrs, angling his body towards Steve, lashes already seductively lowered, undeterred by Steve’s utterly unmoved expression. Then again, Arty has always liked a challenge.

 _Shit_ , Danny thinks.

Arty who, for as wonderfully as he and Danny had gotten on years ago, also has a mean streak a mile wide, and absolutely doesn’t take no for an answer.

Even back then, Danny saw him relentlessly pursue whoever caught his eye, and if someone truly didn’t let themselves be caught, Arty had a rather volatile tendency of utterly ruining them in retaliation. For daring to refuse him.

Arty is a spoiled mafia heir to his very core and he truly doesn’t take rejection well. Or, _at all_ , really.

But.

If Arty decides he wants Steve - which Danny can admittedly even relate to - then he is inevitably going to dig into his life, which means he’ll find out about Steve being law enforcement, and from there it won’t be much of a stretch for him to find out about Danny’s real identity as well. An identity which not only includes Danny’s own job but also includes _Grace_.

And that just can’t happen.

But the only way Danny can think of to get Arty to back off, after already setting his sights on a target, is…

“My fiancée,” Danny blurts out abruptly, hoping desperately that the bro code is a thing that applies in the mafia same as it does anywhere else and that pursuing a friend’s fiancée for a quick, dirty tumble just isn’t done.

Arty blinks surprised, but _thanks be to whatever gods may be listening_ he is already turning back towards Danny, glances at him then back at Steve to give him another appreciative onceover, but the seductive tilt to his mouth thankfully gone.

And bless Steve for his ability to roll with the punches or whatever other insanities life might throw his way because despite having no clue what is going on right now, he is already stepping a little closer to Danny, not quite wrapping his arm around him but the way he is standing screaming ‘this one is mine’ so clearly he might as well be holding a sign above his head. Or have Danny wear a t-shirt proclaiming as much. Or something.

“Well, damn,” Arty then says, grin widening once more. “You weren’t lying when you used to say I wasn’t your type.”

“Hm,” Danny just gives an agreeing hum, doesn’t have even the vaguest recollection of what he might have told Arty about his ‘type’ back then. “Like you’re one to talk,” he just returns jovially, somehow managing to act as though his heart weren’t currently trying to beat is way out of his chest at the thought that Arty might pursue Steve and look into his life and find out about everything. The thought of what that would mean for Grace’s safety.

“Well,” Arty declares brightly, with Steve officially claimed, apparently once more entirely dismissing him. And thank fuck for that. “Then you should absolutely bring him to the party I’m throwing this weekend at my place. Add him to the eye candy already there.”

Not happening, Danny thinks. Hell, he’ll claim their flight leaves tonight, or even within the next hour or so if that gets him out of attending some sort of mafia party this weekend.

That’s the absolute last thing he wants to do.

But before Danny can come up with an excuse to decline, anything to get out of seeing even a single Ricci family member again in his life, Arty adds on cheerfully, “My father might attend.”

And, fuck, you don’t refuse paying your respects to a mafia don. You just don’t. Not if you’re personally invited and not if you don’t want to make everyone incredibly suspicious of the reasons behind your refusal.

Which brings Danny right back to his willingness to do just about anything to keep Ricci Senior from ever finding out about his real identity.

_Good lord, how am I ever going to get out of this one._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this just kind of came out of nowhere while I was writing an entirely different fic. But once I started, I couldn’t stop XD Also, fair warning, I might bump up the rating with the next chapter, depending on how things develop from here :3
> 
> Would love to know what you think :D


	2. Chapter 2

“So, ‘Aidan’?” Steve asks as he weaves through traffic, cheerfully ignoring the look Danny throws him from the passenger seat. “Who came up with _that_?” Because that name honestly doesn’t suit Danny at all.

“I did,” Danny replies, mostly focused on his phone, scrolling through his contacts to look for the number of the detective he worked this particular case with in Chicago.

Steve raises his eyebrows in his best keep-the-information-coming expression.

Danny just huffs at the obviously implied question. “For any of my more extensive undercover ops I prefer using names that could theoretically be abbreviated to Danny in case I ever slip up.” He pauses. “Or, you know, in case I come across someone I know from my normal life who wouldn’t know to keep their mouth shut.” He shrugs. “Just one less thing to worry about.”

Steve has to admit that actually makes a lot of sense. It’s not a problem he himself ever had to worry about with his own various covert ops, but for someone who’d go undercover not too far from where they actually live, the potential of running into someone they know who might then unintentionally blow his entire cover just by calling him by his real name… Yeah, using a name that couldn’t be linked back to his real identity but could theoretically be abbreviated into your actual nickname sounds pretty ingenious, actually.

He frowns slightly.

Of course he knows that Danny was a cop long before they ever met, and a rather successful one at that based on the number of solved homicide cases under his belt. Steve knows that. He just sometimes… forgets.

He sometimes just forgets that Danny ever worked anywhere other than Hawaii, that he ever worked cases Steve wasn’t part of, that Danny ever worked with partners other than him.

He isn’t sure whether he particularly likes the reminder.

Earlier, when that Ricci guy had appeared and everything about Danny’s pseudo-relaxed slouch had screamed _bewaredangerdangerdanger_ to Steve, setting off his own alarms, he had been barely a second away from pulling his gun on these people he’d never seen before but who were clearly bad news if they had that effect on his partner.

It had admittedly taken Steve a couple of moments to piece together what might be going on. The fact that Danny had acted like there was nothing off about being called ‘Aidan’ at all had actually been the main clue. Because false names amongst law enforcement usually means something case related and most likely something to do with undercover, and undercover tends to mean organized crime. It hadn’t been all that hard to extrapolate from there.

Admittedly, Steve _hadn’t_ expected the apparent mafia heir in front of them to then start flirting with him.

And he _certainly_ hadn’t expected Danny to drive him off by calling Steve his fiancée.

And, boy, that had hit hard, in all the right and all the wrong ways at the same time. Because being engaged to Danny, having such a definite, tangible claim on him? That honestly sounds rather fantastic. Having it be pretend? Very much less so.

“How come Ricci believed you so easily about us being engaged?” Steve can’t help but ask, even as he guides the car around another corner, cheerfully ignoring the horns sounding from every direction.

The ease with which Danny had made that pronouncement and the immediate, casual acceptance from that Arty guy had honestly surprised Steve. Because organized crime is about as macho as it ever gets and homosexuality isn’t usually a thing in those circles.

“Because I pretended to be gay during that op, or at least not entirely straight,” Danny just replies absently still mostly focused on his phone. He glances briefly up at Steve, before he adds, “Previous intel said that Carlo Ricci’s second son was gay but in the testosterone-laden world of the mafia had no one whatsoever to relate to. So, I figured I’d take the easy in of pretending to be at the very least not entirely heterosexual as well and also proud of it.” His lips quirk into a slightly smug grin. “It worked better than I had expected when Arty decided I was his new best friend barely after meeting me.”

Steve grins back at Danny’s obvious pride for having coming up with such an effective way of slipping underneath everyone’s notice. Because even if the Riccis might have suspected a mole in their midst somewhere, they likely wouldn’t even have considered the guy claiming to be gay to be a cop, since anyone going undercover would try to fit in as well as they possibly could and not paint such an obvious target on their back.

Well, he also has to make himself bite down on the numerous questions immediately circling through his mind. Questions like ‘ _Are you_?’ or ‘ _Did you only pretend or also act on it_?’ or most pressingly ‘ _Did you like it_?’.

Instead, he falls silent to listen to the dial tone filling the car as Danny seems to have finally found the number he was looking for and put the phone on speaker for Steve to listen in.

The line clicks. “Detective Murrow,” a gruff voice answers.

“Josh,” Danny greets him. “It’s Danny Williams.”

Barely a second.

“Danny,” is the bright greeting he receives in definite recognition. “How have you been?”

“Good, good,” Danny returns. “How about you?”

“Eh, same old, same old.” A pause. “Man, we haven’t talked in ages. I heard you left the Newark PD?” Murrow remarks leadingly

“Yeah,” Danny confirms, clearly trying to keep his tone perfectly cordial despite the I-do-not-have-time-for-small-talk-right-now air Steve can practically see radiating off him. “My ex-wife decided to move to Hawaii and took my daughter with her. So, I transferred to the pineapple-infested hellhole that is the tail-end of the country.”

“Ouch,” the other man hums in prompt sympathy. “That sucks, man.”

“You’re telling me,” Danny agrees with a sigh.

Steve just huffs out a breath, gaining himself a half-chiding, half-amused look from his partner. One day he’ll get Danny to admit that he has absolutely made his home here and that his constant grumbling about everything Hawaii is just an excuse so he’ll have _something_ to complain about.

In retaliation, he guides Danny’s car quite a bit faster around the corner than he admittedly needs to, feels his lips quirking into a grin on one side at Danny promptly grasping for the oh-shit-bar above the door and the disgruntled frown his partner sends him, nonverbally complaining about Steve’s driving style.

“So, what can I do for you, Danny?” the CPD detective on the line is asking. “I assume you have a reason for suddenly calling?”

“I need my cover story from the Ricci case,” Danny replies, straight to the point. “Believe it or not I managed to bump into Arturo Ricci in the middle of Honolulu today. And he’s invited me to join him for a party, a party his father might show up for as well.”

There is a pause. “Yikes,” Murrow declares, voice commiserating at the idea of an UC op coming to bite Danny in the ass so effectively a few years later. “Well, I’m glad to hear that the cover we came up with back then held up so well. That’s something at least,” he jokes dryly.

Danny just hums in agreement, a wry twist to his lips. “Almost a little too well, if you ask me.”

Murrow snorts a laugh, but then gets back to business. “Okay, it might take a while to find those files. You know how it is with UC ops. Never keep all the details digital. Give me an hour or so to dig my way through the archives.”

“Yeah,” Danny nods in easy acceptance, apparently having expected as much. “We still have two days until the party, so you got some time at least.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll let the Captain know about this and then I’ll go look for those files right after,” Murrow assures him. “I’ll send you everything I can find.”

“Thanks, Josh,” Danny returns.

“No problem.” They can hear the other man tapping away on his keyboard, quite likely looking for the registry number of the files he’ll need to dig up. “Let me know if there is anything else I can do.”

“Will do,” Danny nods just as they pull into the parking lot of the Palace, some of the tension bleeding out of Danny’s frame again at the assurance of getting his old cover back.

Steve is relieved to see it. _If only because a relaxed Danny is so much more fun to tease than a wired one_ , he thinks with a grin. 

+++

“Okay,” Chin says, tone incredulous but his eyes glinting with definite amusement. Amusement at Danny’s expense. “Why don’t you explain it all to me again.”

Beside Chin, Kono is grinning rather dementedly, obviously delighted at the entire situation, and Steve is all cheerfully bright smiles, having spent the entire car ride back to the Palace poking at Danny’s temper and clearly nowhere near done with the teasing yet.

Danny himself would very much like to point out that _none of this is his fault_. At all. He absolutely doesn’t deserve being made fun of for something so utterly beyond his control.

But the team apparently thinks it’s endlessly hilarious that Danny was so good at playing the part of a not-entirely-straight mafioso about a decade back that the people he hoodwinked still haven’t caught on to this day.

Danny refrains from rolling his eyes at his team’s antics. He already explained the entire situation to them twice over, told them who Arty is and just what sort of mafia family the Riccis are as well as his own time undercover with them.

And as much as he gets his team’s amusement, the implications of this mess - especially for Grace’s safety - also have him more than a little stressed. “Look,” he says. “I got out of Chicago before CPD ever busted anyone, so they never figured out I was undercover at all. Which has now apparently come to bite me in the ass.”

Danny huffs to himself. Seriously, fuck his life.

“Hm,” Chin hums in amusement. “And this requires Steve to act as your fiancée… _why_ exactly?” he asks with a humorously raised eyebrow.

Kono giggles, even as Steve interjects brightly, “Yeah, why _is_ that, Danno?”

Danny huffs. God, sometimes he really wonders just what sort of heinous crime he could possibly have committed in his past life to deserve getting stuck with a team full of assholes. Well, there _is_ the fact that he himself is as much of a bastard on his good days as any of them ever manage to be… But that’s just entirely beside the point.

“ _Because_ ,” he returns emphatically, focusing on Chin. “Arty likes men. Or more specifically, he likes his men tall, well-built, _pretty_ , and a little bit dumb.” He ticks up one of his eyebrows in his best you-see-what-I’m-getting-at expression. “Which, let’s be honest here, is Steve to a T.”

He ignores Steve’s immediate protesting, “ _Hey_!” from his left. Serves his partner right for all the teasing he has put Danny through since they said their goodbyes to Arty, of course only _after_ agreeing to come to that party of his.

“Seriously,” Danny just forges on undeterred, “Arty looked like he wanted to climb Steve like a tree the second he laid eyes on him. But Arty’s tendency to think with his dick aside, he is still second in line to inherit the Ricci family. If he really decided to pursue our dear lunatic of a leader then his people would definitely look into Steve’s background and they might even dig deep enough to find out who he really is, what he does, and who his _partner_ is.” He pauses briefly. “Word about me having been undercover back then would get out… And next thing you know I’ll be sending Gracie into witness protection to keep her safe and likely follow her to whatever godforsaken corner of the world they decide to send her and her mother.”

With that announcement, the room is suddenly perfectly silent. As Danny knew it would be as soon as he mentioned his family.

“Look,” Danny sighs. “The Riccis… They are the real deal. The entire family is all about image and reputation and keeping face in front of the competition. They wouldn’t let a slight like an undercover cop slipping underneath their notice slide just because a couple of years have passed since then and Ricci Senior is one of those ruthless motherfuckers I’d really prefer not to ever truly piss off.” He shrugs. “So, when Arty started batting his eyelashes at Steve, the first thing that came to mind to try and prevent that particular clusterfuck from happening, was to make Steve unavailable by claiming him myself. I didn’t know Arty would _then_ invite us to a get-together with the mafia elite next weekend or I would have tried to come up with something different.”

He huffs. Honestly, what even is his life.

“Alright, man,” Chin nods, suddenly far more intent, expression serious. “It shouldn’t be a problem to set this up. Not like this is the first time you and Steve go undercover somewhere. I’ve gotten rather used to making the two of you seem perfectly legit by scumbag standards.”

“Yeah, brah,” Kono chimes in, grin still bright on her face but the teasing glint in her eyes having changed into something utterly determined instead. “We’ll make you into the most trustworthy mafioso to ever supposedly step foot on Oahu.”

Danny can’t help but let a slight grin tilt his lips.

This is the reason why he adores his team so much, general assholery aside. They are ohana first, everything else second. As soon as he mentioned the implications for Grace’s safety, this turned utterly serious for all of them.

“So, what exactly was your cover for that op?” Chin is asking, his hands already hovering over the keyboard, waiting for something to do. “Any angles I should be covering in case they do dig a little deeper into what you might have been up to since back then?”

“I don’t actually remember the details,” Danny admits with a shrug. “I went on so many UC ops back then, I can’t for the life of me recall what my exact cover story with the Riccis was. But I called my contact at the Chicago PD and he’ll send over the old case files as soon as he digs them up from the archives.”

That comment gets him a raised eyebrow from Chin, an interested glance from Kono, and an assessing stare from Steve, most likely due to his claim about the number of undercover ops under his belt.

But it’s in no way an exaggeration. There was a period right when he’d been fresh out of the academy, unknown to any criminals anywhere as a cop yet, where Danny spent more time undercover than he’d spent covering the beat. Danny had been excellent at blending in all the while without making it seem like he was trying to blend in at all. Quite the opposite really. He had been just abrasive enough, his entire attitude just enough off-the-streets, for him to fit in with pretty much any sort of gangsters anywhere. So much so that his captain had lent him out to other departments more than once.

Like with the Ricci case in Chicago.

Which brings him right back to his current problem and rather desperately needing to get his old cover story back. Sure, he can talk his way out of almost anything in case he messes up, but having his story be consistent will still make everything go much more smoothly.

Right on time, his phone dings with a message from Josh, letting him know he should have the copies of the case file in his inbox now. And also that the CPD captain would very much like to speak with Danny to discuss possible implications of the Riccis potentially starting up business in Hawaii.

_Great, just one more thing to worry about._

Danny sighs, turns on his heel to make his way to his office and call the CPD captain as requested.

He absently notes Steve simply wandering after him, apparently planning to partake in said call. Not that Danny is the least bit surprised at his partner following him into his office without so much as a comment.

 _Of course_ Steve wants to listen in, always having to know absolutely everything, and _of course_ he wouldn’t actually bother asking Danny whether that’s alright with him. Then again, boundaries just aren’t Steve’s thing, might as well not _exist_ as far as his partner is concerned.

They are partners and thus – in his Neanderthal partner’s mind - what is Danny’s is also Steve’s. It really seems to be as simple as that.

Danny learned that pretty much right away, when Steve took over his murder case within moments of meeting him, then barged into his apartment mere hours later, strong-armed him into being his partner, and before long not only co-opted his car but pretty much took over his entire life.

These days, Danny has kind of given up on trying to teach Steve the meaning of boundaries, privacy, or _minding-his-own-damn-business_. Between Steve’s atrophied survival instincts and complete disregard of the Geneva Convention, Danny really has bigger issues to try and beat into his lunatic partner’s head.

He is also fairly certain that the whole professional distance thing is one of those battles he’s never going to win while going up against Steve’s complete disregard of social norms anyway.

Steve needs to know everything any of their team members ever does, even more so for Danny.

His partner gets fidgety if he doesn’t know every minute detail of Danny’s life. To the point where he can’t deal with not knowing what Danny’s _lunch_ is, god forbid if Danny ever has any sorts of plans that Steve isn’t informed of ahead of time, and even on days where they don’t make any plans to see each other for once, Steve tends to check in so regularly, either by phone or in person, citing various rather flimsy excuses, that they end up knowing exactly where the other is and what they are doing at any given time anyway.

Well, if Steve doesn’t simply preempt it all by inviting Danny over to his place on the few days that they actually have off from work, which – more often than not – tend to coincide perfectly with Danny’s weekends with Gracie.

To the point where his daughter has long since started assuming that weekends with her Danno will always include at least one visit to Steve’s private beach as well.

To the point where Danny isn’t even surprised anymore when he comes home to find his couch already occupied by Steve fiddling with his phone, or staring into the middle distance, or dozing while he waits for Danny to return, or digging through his cupboards for something or other.

To the point where Danny has simply started planning his weekends around his inevitable stop by Steve’s place, to have dinner or to sit out on the lanai and watch the waves coming in or to simply kick back and relax with a beer while watching a game.

Danny still refuses to admit that the two of them might be reaching well into the realm of codependence these days with how they can’t seem to be apart for more than a few hours at a time.

And maybe all of this should bother Danny more. But it just doesn’t. Not really. It never did.

Sure, in the beginning, he might have still tried to dig in his heels against Steve bulldozing his way into every single part of his life. But at some point he just started to… _forget_ to protest anymore.

Steve is his partner, so inextricably part of his life these days that Danny wouldn’t know how to _not_ have him around any longer. Even if Danny prefers to avoid thinking too deeply about what exactly that means.

Point is, Steve following him to his office to listen in on his call to the CPD captain is in no way surprising and Danny isn’t even going to expend the effort of trying to kick him out. It’s not a battle he is ever going to win.

And, well, if they really can’t find a way to get out of this party, if they really have to go undercover together, then Steve actually needs to know everything that’s going on. Not to even mention that, if Danny is going to be stuck undercover in the same room as the mainland mafia elite, then he’d honestly like to have his lunatic of a partner along as backup anyway.

+++

Reestablishing his old cover is easy once he has the case files from back then.

Chin works his magic and, viola, for anyone who cares to look, Danny is now once more a fully established mafioso with ties to the European mafia and known for utterly ruining anyone who dares show him any sort of disrespect for any reason whatsoever, much less because of his supposed sexuality.

The party itself is much more of a pain to plan for.

They simply don’t know what to expect, don’t know who will be in attendance and when they try to dig up some additional info, they come up entirely empty. Their own informants on Oahu seem to have no idea what party they are talking about, same for the HPD or any alphabet-soup agencies that don’t even seem to be aware that Ricci is visiting Hawaii in the first place.

So… If it weren’t for Arty’s personal invitation, they quite possibly wouldn’t have ever heard about this party taking place at all. Which in itself is honestly rather suspicious. Because usually crime bosses like to make a big spectacle of their celebrations, making sure everyone in the criminal underworld knows about it, if only to drive home who is and who isn’t important enough to be invited. Alas, not this time.

Danny isn’t at all amused and even Steve isn’t looking too enthusiastic at the utter lack of intel to base their mission plans on.

Finally, Chin manages to dig up the caterer Arty hired for the party, so they are at least able to extrapolate the general size of the party just based on the amount of ordered food.

Seems like it’s going to be a comparatively small get-together.

Which is… kind of good and bad at the same time. _Good_ , because fewer people in total means fewer people from the island who might potentially recognize Steve and Danny. _Bad_ , because fewer people also means it’ll be much harder for them to disappear into the background, to make themselves more forgettable.

“How likely do you think it is that the Riccis aren’t actually setting up any sort of business on Oahu?” Kono notes while they are all gathered around screens in the middle of Five-0, putting the last touches on their plan for tomorrow night. “I mean, it all just seems a little…”

“Yeah,” Danny agrees, has been thinking the same thing actually. “Arty said he’s only been on Oahu for two days and that he doesn’t plan to stay after the party either. It doesn’t seem like enough time to establish any sort of new business ventures on the islands.”

Chin nods as well. “To me this looks more like some sort of meeting under the guise of a vacation, trying to get away from any eavesdropping law enforcement.”

To Danny’s right, Steve tilts his head but remains silent as he stares at the screens and the slowly growing list of big-name arrivals on Oahu in just the past twenty-four hours, listing various crime syndicate bosses, all of them under aliases of course and most of whom they would quite likely have missed entirely if they hadn’t been looking for this sort of thing in this very specific timeframe.

It seems some of the really big fish from all around the country are going to be at this ‘party’.

Big-name crime bosses, plus Danny and Steve. Honestly, what a combination.

And while Danny is still kind of tempted to just contact Arty with some sort of excuse why he can’t make it to the party, Steve seems to rather delight in the idea of them having literally been _invited_ to a hush-hush mafia meeting. An apparently rather high-profile meeting which - as they are starting to suspect - might have been moved to Hawaii solely for the purpose of letting the entire meeting slip under any law enforcement’s notice.

Only for Arty to then personally invite _Danny and Steve_ along. Of all people.

The irony isn’t lost on any of them.

His phone rings and Danny isn’t at all surprised when it’s the CPD Captain once more calling him. The man has been less than amicable ever since Five-0 locked out the FBI from this particular case. The FBI who wouldn’t even have _known_ about the party or Arty visiting Hawaii or any of this, if the CPD Captain hadn’t made the executive decision to tip off the feds about the Riccis being up to something outside of Chicago. Without discussing it with Five-0 first.

Though when the FBI had then promptly tried to muscle their way in on the case, Steve had pulled a couple of strings, not least of which by calling the governor to help ensure that the feds wouldn’t actually show up to take over operations and make a mess of things.

The main reason why they are playing everything so carefully with this is that Danny desperately wants to keep his old cover from being blown to keep his daughter safe from any retaliation. And he doesn’t trust anyone outside of Five-0 to make Gracie’s safety their priority.

Sure, they’ll share whatever intel can be gleaned from a high-profile meeting as this is apparently turning out to be with the feds or any other law enforcement agencies afterwards. But only any intel that won’t put their cover at risk. And that sort of restraint is something they can’t trust everyone else to exhibit. So, they’re not risking it.

Thankfully, the governor had even been quite willing to fend off the FBI on their behalf, because this sort of intel gathering mission by the rather controversial taskforce he established is going to look rather excellent on his own list of accomplishments.

Which has however sparked quite a bit of grumbling from various corners, including the FBI itself as well as the CPD Captain, everyone wanting a piece of the pie and being rather displeased at finding themselves locked out.

Hence, the annoyingly persistent calls Danny keeps receiving from Chicago.

_Because, **clearly** , I couldn't possibly have something more significant than some bruised egos somewhere to worry about._

Steve watches Danny gesture wildly while on the phone in his office, once more arguing with the captain of the Chicago PD.

It’s nothing new, Steve watching Danny. Hasn’t been for a while.

Hasn’t been since he first got to see Danny and Grace together at that football game, seeing Danny all soft and bright and unguarded with his daughter, a sort of happiness around him Steve hadn’t seen in him until that moment, since seeing the way Gracie so clearly adores her Danno in return… In hindsight, Steve thinks it might have been that very day that his crush turned into honest-to-god infatuation.

The sort of infatuation that even now still has him utterly blind to anyone else as soon as Danny steps into the room. Not unaware of other people, mind you. Just blind.

Blind to anyone else’s presence, all of his attention forever centered on his partner, so much so that there are moments, memories of them and the team being together, and someone telling a joke or a story and Steve can’t for the life of him remember whatever was being said, the only thing he can recall being the way Danny had reacted to it, the way his eyes crinkled in laughter at a joke or going off on yet another rant in reaction to a story.

Yeah, Steve is so far gone, it’s not even funny anymore.

But it’s usually fine as long as they are in company, while they are working a case, Steve’s training of compartmentalizing letting him push everything else – including his feelings – aside while they are out and about hunting perps. It only gets a little tricky to hide when it’s just the two of them, sprawled over the couch or sitting on the beach, after closing yet another case and Steve can practically feel his walls just sliding away. Because it’s just him and Danny and what would he need his defenses for anyway?

It’s honestly a little disconcerting. Or it would be.

But then Danny will look at him, whether it’s with that slightly manic, adrenaline-bright thrill in his eyes as they hunt criminals around Oahu, or with that teasing-sharp challenge in his eyes as he goes off on yet another of his rants on the most random of topics but always verbally tugging Steve along, or sometimes with his eyes warm and his grin soft and his entire presence utterly golden-bright as they relax with a beer after a job well done.

And Steve will once more realize that he wouldn’t change any of this for the world. Instead, he will just shrug internally and let himself fall yet a little bit deeper in love.

On some days – when he is alone and lonely and exhausted and maybe not entirely sober – he even thinks that he and Danny might be actual soulmates. The way they click and are able to somehow read each other’s thoughts and plans and emotions sometimes without a single word spoken between them. How Steve somehow always _knows_ where Danny is, even while in the middle of a shootout, how he trusts Danny to always come for him, same as he’ll do for Danny in return.

If there _is_ such a thing as soulmates and if Steve was lucky enough to get one, then Danny must surely be _it_ for him.

Of course, it kind of sucks that Steve’s other half only seems to see him platonically.

But then again…

How many people get to meet their soulmate at all, platonic or otherwise? So, Steve definitely isn’t complaining. Wouldn’t ever. He is simply happy to have Danny in his life at all.

Still.

It doesn’t stop him from dreaming sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this chapter gave me quite a bit of trouble and in the end didn't turn out at all as I had planned. No idea why XD Next chapter will be the party and 'the realization' on Danny's part.
> 
> Would love to know what you think :D
> 
> And thanks so much for all your comments and kudos!!


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